Category Archives: Desktop

Qt Framework v 5 is released! Qt is a popular cross-platform application development framework (free and open source, available under GNU LGPL). If you have used KDE desktop environment then you’ve already used a lot of applications built upon it (as KDE desktop heavily relies on Qt).

The new version of Qt (v 5.0) has lot of exciting features (it’s a major released, after a long time – the v 4.0 was released, around 7 years ago).

If you’re not happy with the default desktop environment (Unity shell on GNOME3) in Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal), then you can try installing some alternative desktop such as MATE, Cinnamon, KDE etc or a lightweight desktop environment such as XFCE.

Why go for a Lightweight Desktop Environment ?

speed

efficiency

low resource requirements (it can also run smooth on older computers)

1. XFCE

XFCE is a simple and easy to use Desktop environment with traditional layout/conventions (much like GNOME 2). The XFCE package contains desktop and some lightweight apps such as Thunar(File Manager), Ristretto (Image viewer), Midori (Web Browser), Orage (calandar app) etc. Based on XFCE, there is a seperate edition of Ubuntu – called Xubuntu.

The R310 drivers supports the newest latest GPUs. Recently, Steam client has been launched (the leader in distributing pc and mac games) and now – the graphics performance boost, it seems like – Linux is becoming the ultimate choice for gaming.

Update your Nvidia Drivers

First, update the repository cache – either using Update Manager (or software updater in Ubuntu 12.10) or the command –

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Then, go to System Settings -> additional drivers (or Software Sources -> Additional Drivers in 12.10) and select the 310 drivers. (it’s an experimental release, required for playing recent games e.g for Steam client but not recommended for production systems). Now just activate the drivers and restart your computer.

Ubuntu 12.10 comes with Unity Desktop environment/shell (based on GNOME 3). A lot of users love unity, they like the cools features of unity (Unity dash, lens, launcher etc) , but there are lots of haters too. Fortunately, there are many options available – Gnome shell, KDE, XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon, etc.

KDE – Desktop Environment

KDE is one of the most popular and a classic desktop environment. It’s easy to use and it has lot of cools apps (somewhat like Gnome), specially for newbies (moving from Windows XP/7/8).

In Ubuntu 12.10, it’s there in package repository, by default. KDE plasma desktop and apps are bundled together in various ways. Choose something that suits you well, or just go with second one (kde-plasma-desktop, with minimal set of applications).

KDE Desktop Minimal

If you just want to give it a try or may be you don’t want the applications to be installed by default (you can always install later), then prefer this minimal package – that installs KDE plasma desktop with minimal set of apps.

sudo apt-get install kde-plasma-desktop

KDE Netbook Minimal

As the name suggest, it’s more suitable for netbook users.

sudo apt-get install kde-plasma-netbook

KDE Full

If you want the complete package of apps, along with the core desktop environment (KDE Plasma), then it’s the best option for you (but it may take more time to install depending on your internet speed).

Ubuntu 12.10 “Quantal Quetzal” has released, with a lot of new exciting features. So you’re running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS now, and you’re interested in the shinny features of 12.10, then you may want to upgrade now (or you can do a fresh install (12.10), in another partition/drive)

Upgrading to Ubuntu 12.10, from 12.04 LTS is very easy, but you must always have a backup of all your important data (to another hard disk or online such as Dropbox, Ubuntu One or Amazon S3).

First of all, Back up all your important data

Then, start Update Manager. Update the settings, so that it can notify you about the new version (by default it’s set for LTS only).

Now, restart the update manager and click on check to reload the package information. Now you should see the upgrade notification “New Ubuntu release 12.10 is available” at top.

Now, read the release notes and click on upgrade to start the upgrade process.

NOTE : If you prefer a solid and stable distribution over the new one with latest cool stuffs, then better stick with LTS version, specially in production environment or any situation where stability/compatibility is critically important. e.g in server environment. But for most of the desktop users, that might not be an issue, or you could run LTS as primary OS (for work) and the latest one as secondary OS in other partition/drive.